All Veils Are Off, Marguerette Heding
Mary Egan Publishing, April 27, 2022; RRP: $35.00
Memoir lifts lid on extraordinary lives of Qatari women
Once described by the Lonely Planet Guide as ‘the dullest place on earth,’ Qatar sounded like a bad lung condition to Marguerette Heding. Moving there was surely the last gasp or was Allah guiding her path?
Following a health scare and dubious about upending her comfortable life in New Zealand, Heding reluctantly agrees to move to Qatar with her teenage daughter and architect husband, after he lands a lucrative work contract.
Fascinating, shocking and humourous in equal measure, All Veils Are Off is a revealing account of Heding’s eight years living in Qatar. Entering a world of privilege and opulence, Heding must learn to navigate the tricky ex-pat community, including the cruel antics of ‘Hetta the Horrible.’ As petty domestic politics swirl around her, Heding stares down her fears and faces potentially life-threatening situations; from suicide bombers to crazy drivers, heat stroke, psychopaths and dune bashing.
While getting to grips with life as an ex-pat and increasingly drawn to the fiercely protected society of Qatari housewives – a world of beautiful, rich, designer-clad, surprisingly empowered women – Heding becomes privy to a society very few outsiders (particularly, a wine-loving, dog-owning infidel!) ever get to see.
Earning the trust of the Qatari women she gets to know, Heding becomes their confidant and discovers that behind the veils are a cohort of highly educated, strong-minded women. Over time, she is exposed to the ugly side of Qatari society and, as the veils come off, the true housewives are revealed. Significantly, when things suddenly spiral out of control, Heding is forced to lift her own 'veil' and confront her foibles.
“I had become so caught up in this world of the real housewives of Doha, loving the approval and ego strokes my gifts of storytelling and humour got me, that I became conditioned to the hamster wheel of this life. I knew if I didn’t get off – and face those parts of myself that I tended to suppress such as my inability to say no and my willingness to please – my health would worsen,’ says Heding.
Learning to let go and channel her mother’s can-do attitude, Heding is guided back to New Zealand by a chance meeting with Osama bin Laden’s daughter-in-law and first wife – the hand of Allah? – where she and her family embrace a new chapter in their lives.
MARGUERETTE HEDING was born in Australia and spent her formative years in Africa. She obtained a BA in Communications and Media at the University of Canberra. She has worked at ABC television and as a Flight Attendant with Qantas. Married with one child and two stepchildren, she has travelled extensively and lived in both Indonesia and Qatar.
She now divides her time between homes in New Zealand and Australia. All Veils Are Off is her first book.